Vaxanide
Situated at the edge of sector territory, Vaxanide is a poorly supplied, desperate world, struggling to enter the “inner circle” of sector planets. It has decent mineral output and considerable exports of meat and fish, but it fights to survive. Its three billion population answers to Lord Vaxanide, scion of House Vaxanide, which has holdings on Scintilla, Malfi and Regulus. The economic degeneracy of Vaxanide results in it being a generally lawless, dangerous frontier world, especially beyond the precincts of the central hive, Vaxanhive. The planet is especially famed for its porcelain, glass and fish products. It is also the site of a shrine to Saint Drusus, where miracles are said to occur. Base rumors say that a hidden city exists in the canyons of the dense equatorial slime jungles, which are well-known for their deadly nature. The city is said to be a mirror of the Lucid Palace, populated by phantoms of the actual Lucid Palace’s denizens. All expeditions into the jungle areas have ended in failure, with few members returning alive. Those who survive are usually insane, raving of “grey death” stalking them, or simply ending their lives in a variety of messy ways. In more recent history, a woman thought dead for more than a hundred years, Myrchella Sinderfell, the “Red Angel of Vaxanide”, resurfaced as "Lady Orlea Grey" on the planet of Luggnum. The arch-heretic Ferran Ghast, formerly of the Inquisition, is known to have orchestrated the assassination of High Prefect Astronius on Vaxanide. There is a sweltering archeoruin complex upon Vaxanide, on the very outskirts of the jungle from which no one returns. Evidence suggests that an ancient cathedral lies buried below. Recently, an expedition and archeoexcavation funded by Lord Givale Vaxanide, lesser member of the great House, was sent there and the sanctioned psyker compacted to the expedition went mad and now babbles of daemons. Indentured workers and high-browed magisters coming to the site from nearby Scholam halls are murdered. Monotask and scribe servitors go missing. Lord Givale Vaxanide demands that the Minostorum and Inquisition banish the foul spirits in order to make his archeoexcavation safe, but none know the truth behind what lies beneath that has so roiled spirits of the warp to servitor-possession and murder. Vaxanide was the site of the creation of a powerful daemonic weapon---the Mace of Judgement. It was created at the hands of the Pilgrims of Hayte and was used to corrupt Adeptus Arbites Judge Mielira, turning her righteousness into bloodlust, making her a monster to whom all were guiltily and worthy only of death. Mielira the Bloody was finally killed by vassals of Inquisitor Astrid Skane. However, her black mage that had become the trademark of her atrocities was never recovered. 'The Second Siege of Vaxanide' Three centuries passed after the conclusion of the Meritech Wars and the re-establishment of the Iron Wall of Silence before the forces of the Lathes once again ventured forth, answering the call of the Sector Governor to stop the incursion of the Ork-infested space hulk Pinnacle of Savagery. Ninety years earlier, a similar attack had cost the system greatly, and the lack of response from the Lathes lessened their standings amongst the notable rulers of the Sector. In response to this fall from grace, and its attendant loss in trading status and support, the Calixian Mechanicus sent out two full Explorator fleets to assist Battlefleet Calixis in facing the Ork menace. The Pinnacle of Savagery and its supporting fleet were met at the edge of the Vaxanide system. A dramatic battle ensued as the massive space hulk pushed deeper and deeper into the system towards planets that still bore the scars from the earlier Ork assault. The loyal ships of the Battlefleet Calixis Squadrons peeled away attending Ork vessels from the enormous space hulk and defeated them in detail. Meanwhile, the brutal weapons of the Ordo Reductor and the Explorator fleets pounded into the space hulk itself, ultimately shattering the vessel’s spine and spilling its vile contents into the void. The danger to the system was not yet halted, however, as the significant chunks of the space hulk continued to hurtle through space towards the vulnerable planet. Again the Adeptus Mechanicus moved to intervene, putting lives and ships at great risk to slow the wreckage down, and ultimately bring it to a halt. However, when the ranking admiral of the Battlefleet suggested that any intact wreckage be destroyed, Arch-Magos Haverill Gemm, commander of the Mechanicus forces, denied the request, and the remains were claimed for the Lathe Worlds as recompense. With no further consultation of the Imperial Navy, the Explorator fleets secured several ships to each chunk of wreckage, fired their engines, and brought the largest sections back to the Lathe System for reasons unknown. The Imperial Navy, concerned that xenos hostiles might still pose a threat, lodged several complaints against this action, to no avail. The disposition of any salvage from the Pinnacle of Savagery was never released, and its present location is listed as “unknown” in all Administratum sources. Though ancient treaties grant the Mechanicum rights to new technological discoveries, claiming the hulk while it still was categorized as a threat was singularly uncommon in the Sector. Many amongst the Inquisition and Imperial Navy suspect that the Calixian Mechanicus had planned all along to secure the space hulk’s secrets for themselves. After the Space Hulk Pinnacle of Savagery was splintered in space over the world of Vaxanide, several smaller groups of orks continued on to the surface. One of those was a small Kult of Speed group headed by a warboss named Gurdok Ironclaw. Gurdok had developed a reputation for hit and run attacks on other planets where he used his massive power claw to rip apart any opposition and then vanished into the wilderness. When he landed on the planet’s surface, he wasted no time in moving toward the closest human settlements. Unfortunately for him, the closest was the Abbey of Divine Judgment, run by the Order of the Valorous Heart. As the Warboss began his assault on the surrounding lands, Legatine Brigit led five full squads of Seraphim out to evacuate the civilians. Seeing softer targets leaving the area, Gurdok led half of his force to pursue the troop carriers filled with civilians. Taking her squad to counter them, Brigit and her sisters harassed the bikes and buggies of the warlord, removing long ranged elements and enraging Gurdok. He stopped his pursuit of the civilians and surrounded the Seraphim, firing all shootas at the ten women in front of him. Outnumbered ten to one, all ten women knelt in prayer and as the orks pulled the triggers, they leapt up and began to pour fire into the horde. Brigit jumped straight for Gurdok and with a sweep of her power sword beheaded him. When she turned, her sisters had cut down no less than half of the remaining Orks with their hand flamers, sending the rest fleeing. Brigit returned to the walls of the Abbey and flung Gurdok’s head into the throng. The immediate squabbling by the nobz in the group turned ork against ork and the rest of the green host was easily cut down by the Abbey’s forces. 'Unique Equipment' Environmental Body Glove The rare travelers of the Imperium often despair over the many environments they must prepare for as they travel between systems. Bulky void suits are frequently impractical, especially when a given world’s atmosphere is known to be merely unpleasant as opposed to fatal, and few are the sealed suits that actually provide any armor to their wearers. Travelers on the frontier have an especially difficult time of it, for if they discover a planet with unexpected environmental conditions, the proper equipment may be long months or even years of travel away. Several of the worthies of the various Malfian noble houses decided that the situation was intolerable and set about designing a series of body gloves designed to withstand multiple extreme conditions while still maintaining their wearer in relative comfort. The suits were a great success and various models are produced in small quantities on Malfi, Vaxanide, and Scintilla. “Environmental body glove” is a generic name for a wide variety of suits. Most are actually named after the house line that produces them, such as the “Mariette Envelope” or the “Hax Hostile” field body glove. Environmental body gloves are full body suits designed to sustain their wearers at a constant temperature, despite external conditions, making them ideal as outerwear for desert worlds and a useful inner layer for particularly cold environments. Pockets within the suits recycle sweat and other bodily fluids, cooling or warming them as necessary, in order to regulate temperature and provide emergency water rations. The suits are waterproof, which makes them useful in marshy terrain and capable of doubling as a wetsuit when necessary. Environmental body gloves add +1 Armour Point to all locations and grant a +10 bonus on Survival Tests. Such suits are almost invariably equipped with a re-breather, comm-bead and photo-contacts. Head, Arms, Body, Legs, AP 1, WT 5kg, Cost 625, Rare Slither Boots There are a number of polluted environments within the Calixis Sector where the very soil itself is both destructive and toxic. Whether one has to trudge within the salt-fens of Acreage, over the acid storm wastes of Grangold, or through one of the deadly slime jungles of Vaxanide, the journey will be a short one if the ground itself eats away a traveller’s footwear directly exposing them to their surrounding’s toxicity---a common and frequently deadly occurrence for the unprepared. The destitute that live within such places cope as best they can, whilst the wealthy few acquire slither boots. Slither boots are highly advanced footwear, incorporating a variety of materials including ceramite-woven leather and a circuitry embedded inner frame. Slither boots are designed to withstand the most hostile of environments, releasing chemicals to shield the wearer from acidic and alkaline environments. Slither boots do not slip; regardless of how tractionless a surface may seem, small tendrils emerge from the soles of the boots to help compensate for the movements of their wearer. Slither boots provide a +10 bonus to Agility Tests made to maintain footing in treacherous or slick conditions and provide 6 AP (Legs) versus corrosives. Legs, AP 3, WT 6kg, Cost 500, Rare Category:Frontier Worlds Category:Malfian Sub-Sector Category:Planets Category:Calixis Sector